Boat hull construction



Jan. 4, 1966 H. c. NOE 3,226,739

BOAT HULL CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 1964 F|G.5 v F|G.6

INVENTOR HAROLD C. NOE

United States Patent v3,226,739 BOAT HULL CONSTRUCTION Harold C. Noe,127 Buckingham Road,

Upper Montclair, NJ Filed Nov. 6, 1964, Ser. No. 409,420 1 Claim. (Cl.9-6) The present invention relates to hulls for boats and the like and,more particularly, to an improved boat hull construction which minimizesfriction between the water and the bottom of the hull and which is afurther imthe friction between the water and the bottom of boat hulls tomove the boats faster through and/ or over the water without increasingthe power required to move the boats.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a noveland improved boat hull construction which accomplishes theaforementioned purpose.

Another object is to provide such a construction which can be applied tovarious types of hulls including but not limited to hulls having V,inverted V, W or inverted W bottoms and having pointed, scow-shaped ormodified scow-shaped bows.

Another object is to provide such a construction which can be fabricatedfrom individual strips or strakes secured together or can be formed in amold or press to produce a unitary hull.

A further object is to accomplish. the foregoing in a simple, practicaland economical manner.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon anunderstanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, orwill be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages notreferred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employmentof the invention in practice.

In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing objects aregenerally accomplished by providing a boat hull bottom constructionwhich has strake portions and vertical spacer portions between adjacentstrake portions.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes ofillustration and description, and is shown in the accompanying drawing,forming a part of the specification, wherein:

FIGS. 1 to 4 are silhouettes of boat hull cross-sections of the V,inverted'V, W and inverted W types, respectively, each having a bottomembodying the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the portion of theboat bottom within the broken line circle in FIGS. 1 to 4, illustratinga construction fabricated from individual wooden or fiberglass-resinstrakes and strips.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5, illustrating a unitary constructionformed in a mold or press from a metal or fiberglass-resin sheet.

Referring now to FIGSJI to 4 of the drawing, there are shown boat hullseach having sides S, bottom sections B and a keel section K. The Waterline when the boat hull is approaching top speed is indicated at WL ineach of these views.

In FIG. 1, a V-type hull is shown wherein the bottom sections arestepped upwardly from the keel section to the sides.

In FIG. 2, an inverted V-type is shown wherein the bottom sections arestopped downwardly from the keel section to the sides.

' 'In FIG. 3, a W-ty'pe hull is shown wherein the keel sec- "tion isformed with a tunnel and the bottom sections are stepped upwardly fromthe keel section to the sides.

In FIG. 4, an inverted W-type hull is shown wherein two pairs of bottomsections provide a tunnel at each 'side of the keel section and thebottom sections of each pair are stepped upwardly from a side and thekeel section, respectively, into the tunnel.

In FIGS. 5 and 6, a portion of a bottom section is shown whichcorresponds to the portion within the broken line circle in FIGS. 1 to4. The bottom section generally comprises downwardly facing strake ortread portions 10 and upright spacer or riser portions between adjacentstrake portions formed with a curved surface 12 for directing waves and/or sprays of water under the strake portions from left to right asviewed. The curved surfaces 12 eliminate pockets which may create drag.

If desired, the strake portions may have a depending formation 14 at thefree edge thereof beneath a spacer portion for directing waves and/ orsprays of water under the strake portions from right to left as viewedand indicated by the arrows.

Preferably, the riser or spacer portions 11 are of lesser uprightdimension than the tread or strake portions 10 are of downwardly facingdimension, whereby the bottom of the hull is stepped gradually and iscapable of riding on waves and/ or sprays of water created and directedunder the strake portions with smoothness, stability andmaneuverability.

For example, if the strake portions 19 have a width of about fiveinches, the spacer portions 11 have a height of about two inches. Also,while the spacer portions may be of equal vertical dimensions, it hasbeen found ardvantageous to decrease this dimension from top to bottomin a section B. For example, a section B including three spacer portionshas an upper spacer portion of about 2.5 inches, a middle spacer portionof about 2.0 inches and a lower spacer portion of about 1.5 inches.

In FIG. 5, the bottom section is constructed of individual pre-shapedwooden or fiberglass-resin straxe and spacer strips with adjacentstrakes being lapped and extending over and under an intermediatespacer, respectively. The strake and spacer strips are secured by aconventional method employed in constructing boat hulls from strokes orstrips.

In FIG. 6, the bottom section is constructed or a single unitary sheetof metal or fiberglass-resin which is formed in a mold or press toprovide the strake and spacer purtions having the shape shown herein.

With either method of construction (FIGS. 5 and 6) to produce the bottomshapes shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the hull may be provided with pointed,scow-shaped or modified scow-shaped (blunt pointed) bow. Individualstrips can be warped to produce such bow shapes, while a sheet can bepressed or molded to produce such bow shapes.

In operation of the boat, as the speed increases sprays and waves ofwater are directed under the strake portions progressively from top tobottom of each section B, and when the boat is about at full speed thehull has risen and rides on lower strake portions (WL) to greatly reducesurface friction since the strake portions above the lowermost one rideon sprays or waves of water having air mixed therein.

As the load in the boat increases or the speed of the boat decreases,the hull will ride on the upper strake portions. However, if the boat ispropelled at full speed, a substantial portion of the load is overcomeand the hull rides on lower strake portions.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the presentinvention provides a simple and economical boat hull constructions whichcan be produced in a large variety of shapes by utilizing conventionalboat building procedures. a

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangementof the parts herein, without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to beunderstood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrativeand not in any limiting sense.

I claim:

A boat hull comprising a bow and a bottom having two adjacent lengthwiseextending sections inclined crosswise in opposite directions uniformlythroughout the entire length of said bottom, said sections being steppedcrosswise uniformly and including a series of alternate contiguoushorizontal tread portions and vertical riser portions, said treadportions having a much greater horizontal dimension than the verticaldimension of said rise portions with said tread and riser portions beingof uniform dimensions throughout their length and said riser portionsseparating said tread portions by at least one-half inch, said treadportions each having a depending formation at the free edge thereof fordirecting sprays and waves of water towards an adjacent riser portionbelow said formation, and an arcuate formation at the junction ofadjacent tread and riser portions for directing sprays and waves ofwater towards an adjacent depending formation, said arcuate formationsbeing of much greater a'rcuate extent than the vertical dimension ofsaid depending formations.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCESYachting, 6/61, vol. 109, No. 6, pg. 96.

MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

FERGUS S. MIDDLETON, Examiner.

